COA: ₱1.3-B in combat items still undelivered to PNP

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 1) — The Commission on Audit (COA) flagged ₱1.347 billion in mobility and combat items purchased by the previous administration have not yet been delivered to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

In its annual report, COA directed the PNP to demand the items purchased from state-owned Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) as early as March 2016.

The items — 42 utility trucks, six units of light personnel carrier, 3,300 ponchos, 12 automatic grenade launchers and other related line items — are not with PNP as of December 31, 2017.

"We recommended that (PNP) demand the immediate delivery of all mobility/combat assets within the next six months; otherwise, require the PITC to refund the total advance payments of ₱1.347 billion for deposit to the National Treasury," the report said.

It added the PNP should refrain from availing of PITC's services "unless extremely necessary."

The COA also noted that in the memorandum of agreement between PNP and PITC, there was no timeline to ensure the delivery of the units.

"It is well to note that the ₱1.347 billion worth of mobility and combat assets could have greatly contributed to the capability of the police force to effectively and efficiently accomplish its mandate," the report said.

The audit report also flagged the PNP's purchase of ₱1.89-billion worth of patrol vehicles in 2015 and failure to assess them prior to their use that pushed back some of the police force's programs.

COA said out of the 2,054 units of Mahindra Enforcer and Mahindra Scorpio purchased, 206 units were not effectively utilized due to "frequent breakdowns, poor after sales services and limited availability of spare parts."

The PNP, according to COA, incurred ₱59.379 million in services fees on top of the vehicles' issues, and an additional COA survey showed more than half of the police end-users of the Mahindras were not satisfied with the performance of the vehicles.